Sputnik V in India: Apollo Hospital to roll out Covid vaccine from second week of June

New Delhi: Apollo Hospitals will start administering Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V from the second week of June, said  Executive Vice-chairperson Shobana Kamineni of the Apollo Group of Hospitals on Thursday.

In a statement to the media, Shobana Kamineni said that the group has completed administering one million vaccine doses across 80 locations in India, prioritising frontline workers, high-risk populations, and corporate employees.

Giving details about ramping up their immunisation programme, she said, "In June, we will do a million every week and double that in July. We are on track to complete 20 million jabs by September this year."

The group, which is the largest vaccinator in the private sector, said that they will continue to support the Union and state governments in the fight against this pandemic. 

"We would like to thank the Union and state governments and the vaccine manufacturers of Covishield and Covaxin for their support," Kamineni said, adding that no one is safe till everyone is vaccinated.

Russia`s Sputnik V got approval from the Subject expert committee (SEC) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to get clearance in India.

India has become the 60th country to authorise the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus. The vaccine is now approved in countries with a total population of 3 billion, or 40 percent of the world`s population. 

(With Agency Inputs)